America’s Got Talent 2010 Top 4 Thoughts
It’s hard for me to believe that next week will be the finale of America’s Got Talent 2010. My wife however thinks that this season has gone on forever. I hope that’s not because she thinks I spend too much time blogging about America’s Got Talent. It is my job after all;-)
Well, we’re down to the final 4. If you’ve been reading Pure America’s Got Talent the past few days, then the results show won’t have been a shock at all. Especially the way they announced it. Based on our polls, they should have put the Michael’s head to head and we wouldn’t have really known which one was going to make it. Instead, the whole thing was pretty anti climactic for me.
Enough about that. On to the final 4. Here’s my thoughts on the acts:
Fighting Gravity – America really fell in love with this group after their first couple performances. However, I think this last performance soured quite a few people to Fighting Gravity. Let’s be honest here. The lasers were cool, but it wasn’t nearly as good of a performance as they’d done before. I think it will be hard for them to bring back the original magic and wow factor again in the finale. I hope I’m proven wrong though, since the dark light theater concept is brilliant.
Michael Grimm – I’m not sure about Michael Grimm myself. I think he has a decent sized group of incredibly passionate fans that love him and love the style of music he does. Then, there’s the rest of the audience who doesn’t really dislike him, but also don’t love him either. It will be interesting to see if his group of passionate fans will be enough to get him the win.
Prince Poppycock – I believe that Prince Poppycock is the most polarizing figure in the finals. There’s a bunch of people that adore what he does and a bunch of people that hate what he does. There aren’t that many people in between. Although, like Fighting Gravity, I think he took a bit of hit in his popularity with his last performance. The good part is that most of the hit he took was from people who probably weren’t going to vote for him in the first place. Marianya learned that his final performance will include a bit of John in it along with Prince Poppycock. I’m interested to know how he plans to do that.
Jackie Evancho – It’s going to be a real challenge for Jackie to match her last performance. Between the song choice, the ethereal stage production and her performance she’s going to have a hard time matching that in this next performance. I wonder if she peaked one episode too early. Where does she go from here? If she does execute a similar performance to her last one, she’s going to be a hard little girl to beat.
Overall, it is interesting that 3 of the final 4 our singers. Although, it’s kind of hard to classify Prince Poppycock as a singer. If he just got up and sang, he would have been gone long ago. He’s so much more than a singer. For the variety aspect I’d have loved to have Jeremy in the final 4 instead of Michael Frimm or even Michael Grasso, but it is what it is.
My biggest concern for the finale is we have 4 acts left that are more or less predictable. We know almost exactly what we’re going to get from Michael Grimm and Jackie Evancho are going to do. If you like it, then you’ll be happy to hear more of essentially the same. Prince Poppycock will be a similar over the top routine and Fighting Gravity will have to pull some crazy rabbit out of the hat to really have the WOW factor.
I guess that means I’m predicting a talented, but less than extraordinary final 4. What do you think?
John, as usually I completely agree with you. We all know what we’re going to get for the most part out of these four finalists. I suppose most people like to know what they’re getting. It’s a shame to me that we have three singers out of four (I have to classify Prince Poppycock as a singer). Think about the wild array of acts we’ve seen in the past weeks. I am stunned that not a single magician made it to the final. Michael Grasso was robbed IMHO. Poppycock is a spectacle and love him or hate him (I happen to love him), you can’t take your eyes off him. Fighting Gravity is very much in the “Recycled Percussion”/Blue Man Group vein. They’re an OK finalist – and at least thanks to those boys we’re not stuck with a finals full of singers. And Jackie is a given.
Jeremy our bicyclist is good but a narrow talent. Same stuff, different heights. Anna and Patryk are mega talented but they didn’t have a great night. But ballroom couldn’t be hotter right now and they’ll be fine no matter what. Taylor isn’t quite “cooked” yet. Studio One – good but not great.
I regret that ArcAttack didn’t get to the finals. There’s a unique, Vegas style act.
An aside – I’ve come to like Howie Mandel as a judge very much. His humor, levity, empathy for the acts (esp. the youngsters) and lack of pretension are welcome.
I’ll be watching the finals next week as I have all season – with great enthusiasm!
You are right, the final four were very predictable. While not necessarily my choice – I liked the bike guy, Anna and Patryk and Grasso, but I thought we’d get exactly the same people we got.
I am actually the one who is mixed on Prince Poppycock. I don’t hate him, I don’t love him. I find him entertaining, I don’t think he is that great of a singer, I didn’t care for his performance of opera arias, but I thought his last performance was fun.
I think with Jackie it’s all about music choice. “Pie Gesu” was her best performance because it was both within her vocal abilities and age-appropriate. Her angelic tone of voice fit well with church music. It wasn’t emotionally beyond a 10-year old, and anyway a song like this doesn’t have the same complex emotions a singer has to express as her past selections. If she chooses something similar e.g. “Amazing Grace” or something different but still age-appropriate e.g. from a Disney movie or Broadway she’d be fine.
I think it’s between Jackie and Poppycock.
I worry that Fighting Gravity won’t be able to reproduce the “wow” factor. This past week was not their strongest. I’ve always felt Anna and Patryk were good but not ready for Vegas and, in my opinion, not the best choice for a Vegas act itself. Miss Evancho is a very talented little girl, but she is just that: a little girl. I imagine in a few years, if she doesn’t take top honors on AGT, she’s going to be headlining on her own. She does need time to grow, enjoy what remains of her childhood and hone her beautiful voice.
As a quick note, I would love to see her sing. I can see her with others such as Sarah Brightman, Placido Domingo, Paul Potts or Alessandro Safina, or perhaps spotlighted with a group such as Ill Divo.
When you think Vegas, you think big, over the top, unusual, perhaps awe-inspiring.
I absolutely adore John/Prince Poppycock. However, I fear he may have lost a bit of his following due to his musical choice this past week. I still love him and, for the most part, I loved his act but I honestly don’t know that mainstream America is ready him.
I hope we are. I know where my votes are going. 🙂
Regarding the second paragraph:
…group such as Il Divo.
Regarding the fourth paragraph:
…ready *for* him.
Typos blow. My apologies.
Hmmm…for me loving the top 10 so much, I’m surprised how little I care about the top 10. Jackie Evancho is a slight sentimental favorite for me since Pure AGT had a very small part in promoting her. Otherwise, I guess I don’t really care about any of the top 4. I’ll watch, but I think these last 2 episodes will miss a lot of the wow factor.
I would love to see Poppycock win but as Lisa writes, America is not ready for him, so I guess that, unless Fighting Gravity comes with something WOW, the little girl wins. I like Michaels singing, but I think his does not have enough fans to win
@Lisa “I can see her with others such as Sarah Brightman, Placido Domingo, Paul Potts or Alessandro Safina, or perhaps spotlighted with a group such as Ill Divo.”
I wouldn’t put Placido Domingo on the same list… Placido Domingo is a legitimate opera singer who still performs in top opera theaters (though now he switched to baritone roles). He sang a title role in Simone Boccanegra at the Met as recently as last season. The rest are classical crossover/popera singers who have never and will never be able to sing on professional opera stage.
Jackie is currently singing in classical crossover style, so yes she can easily get Brightman-type of a career now; she could probably also get child roles on Broadway (Cosette?) or sing in child chorus in opera. 10 to 15 years from now she may as well be able to sing in opera – she does have potential – if she takes care of her voice and trains for it. This is assuming she wants to, she said she doesn’t want now, but a 10-year old can easily change her mind.
I truly believe Prince Poppycock can win. He puts on a great production, has cross generational appeal, and has talent. I would go to see him perform.
I love dear little Jackie. On the basis of natural talent, she could win. Factoring in her stated homesickness, her stated dislike of touring, and her tender age, I would not vote to subject her to such stress.
I love Michael Grimm’s voice. Love the songs he does. I’d buy his CDs (he has at least 2 out).
Fighting Gravity disappointed their last time out. I thought Michael Grasso and The Studio One Young Beast Society had better acts than Fighting Gravity.
@John:
I agree. A lot of the wow factor was last week and the week before. This week was kind of meh, for *me*.
@Kitty:
You’re quite right about Placido Domingo. I listed him because he’s one of my favorites. 🙂
@Lisa – I see. Mine too.
Jackie Evancho is probably the most overrated singer in the history of AGT. I decry the fact that AGT producers tried to hide it when her voice cracked in the semis. As a Director of a prominent children’s choir, I can tell you that Evancho’s quality if singing is nothing to rave about. I got pupils that sing way better than her. Prince Poppycock and Michael Grimm both sing way better than Jackie Evancho. And if Fighting Gravity wins, America would be a laughing stock to the world because their act us simply bad.
I’m supporting Fighting Gravity not because their act is highly polished and awe-inspiring, but because it’s interesting and would finally not be a singing act winning the show. That’s all there is to it.